CHAPTER XVI.
OFF FOR THE FLEET.
Mrs. Gray was always uneasy when the boys were out of her sight, andthat was not to be wondered at, for they so often brought her bad newswhen they came back. But on this particular evening they had no news ofany sort, except that which shone from their radiant faces. Marcythought he had good reason to feel light-hearted, for was he not gettingthe better of the secret enemies of whom he and his mother had stood somuch in fear? Julius would carry no more reports to Hanson; Hansonhimself would soon disappear from their sight; Captain Beardsley wouldbe compelled to stop blockade running; and Colonel Shelby and hisfriends would have to act with the greatest caution in order to escapethe vengeance of the Union men who held secret meetings somewhere in thewoods. That was good news enough for one night, and Marcy was sorry thathe was obliged to keep it from his mother. It was long after midnightwhen the boys went upstairs, and there they passed another half hour inripping up one of Marcy's bed quilts to get at the flags that had beenstitched into it.
"I hope there are no more privateers on the coast," said Marcy, as hedrew one of the flags from its hiding place.
"So do I," replied Jack, "for if we should happen to run foul of one ofthem, my Confederate colors would be no protection whatever. Theboarding officer would very naturally inquire: 'What are you doing outhere so near the blockading fleet?' and no answer that we could givewould satisfy him. Why don't you take the old one? It would be a pity tohave that nice piece of silk whipped to tatters by a Cape Hatterasgale."
"My friend Dick Graham gave me that old flag," answered Marcy; "and Itold him that the next time it was hoisted it would be in a breeze thatwas not tainted by any secession rag. I want to keep my promise if Ican. Now, I will put what is left of the quilt in my trunk where mothercan find it in the morning." After that the boys went to bed, but not tosleep. Marcy was too nervous. Thinking over the details of theremarkable story his brother had told him during the evening, andspeculating upon the possible results of his trip to the blockadingfleet, effectually banished slumber; and seeing how restless he was.Jack was considerate enough to stay awake to keep him company. The timepassed more rapidly than it generally does under such circumstances, andit did not seem to them that they had been in bed an hour before theyheard their mother's gentle tap at the door, and her voice telling themthat the day was breaking.
"I told her we shouldn't need a warm breakfast," said Marcy. "But thislooks as though she had stayed up all night on purpose to have one readyfor us."
The only thing the boys had to do before they left the room was to hidesome papers which they did not want anybody to see while they weregone--to wit, Marcy's leaves of absence, signed by Captain Beardsley,and the letter of recommendation that the master of the smuggling vesselhad given Jack. These they slipped under the edge of the carpet, wherethe boys thought they would be safe (they little dreamed that the timewould come when that same carpet would be torn up and cut into blanketsfor the use of Confederate soldiers); but the papers which related tothe part he had taken in rescuing the brig _Sabine_ from the hands ofthe _Sumter's_ men, Jack put carefully into his pocket. They weredocuments that he would not be afraid or ashamed to show to the officersof the blockading fleet.
That was the last breakfast that Jack Gray ate under his mother's rooffor long months to come. Realizing that it might be so, it required theexercise of all the will power he was master of to keep him from showinghow very gloomy he felt over the coming separation. He was glad when theordeal was over, when the last kiss and the last encouraging words hadbeen given, and he and Marcy, with the two rival flags stowed away in avalise, were on their way to the creek. Greatly to Marcy's surprise,though not much to Jack's, they found the little skiff which did duty asthe _Fairy Belle's_ tender drawn out upon the bank, and Marcy was almostcertain that he saw the woolly head of the boy Julius drawn out of sightbehind the schooner's rail.
"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded. "Where are theship-keepers?"
"Let's go aboard and find out," replied Jack, with a twinkle in his eyewhich said that he could tell all about it if he were so inclined. "Iwas afraid we would have to tow out to the river; but this is a topsailbreeze that will take us down there without any trouble at all. Take thevalise and get in and I will shove off."
Marcy had plenty of questions to ask, but knowing that his brother wouldnot take the least notice of them unless he felt like it, he steppedinto the tender and picked up one of the oars. A few sturdy strokessufficed to lay the skiff alongside the schooner, and the first thingMarcy did when he jumped aboard, leaving Jack to drop the small boatastern, was to look down the hatchway that led into the forecastle.There stood Julius, as big as life, with his feet spread out, his handsresting on his hips, and a broad grin on his face.
"What are you doing there, you imp of darkness?" exclaimed Marcy."Didn't you understand that we don't want any Abolitionists aboard of usthis trip?"
"G'long now, honey," replied the boy, turning his head on one side andwaving Marcy away with his hand. "Ise heah 'cording to Marse Jack'sorders."
"That's all right," said Jack, who had come aboard by this time and wasmaking the skiff fast to the stern. "You see," he added, coming forward,"I wanted to make all the darkeys on the place think that I am goingdown to Newbern to join the rebel gunboat that so many people seem tothink is being built there."
"Aw, g'long now, Marse Jack," said Julius. "Mebbe de niggahs all fools,but dey ain't none of dem b'lieves dat."
"You hold your tongue," said Jack good-naturedly. "Perhaps our darkeysare all right, and perhaps they are not. It won't do in times like theseto trust too many with things that you don't want to have scatteredbroadcast over the neighborhood. Our nigs all know, Marcy, that you havebeen in the habit of taking Julius with you on all your trips about thecoast, and when I told him to stay behind I did it with an object. Imeant to take him and he knew it. You will need his help coming back,and his presence will give weight to the story we are going to tell theblockaders."
"But what will the hands say when they miss him?" inquired Marcy. "Whatwill mother think?"
"Dey'll all think I done took to de swamp," declared Julius, with such ahearty guffaw that it made the boys laugh to hear it. "Dat's what I tole'em all I going to do, and I ain't nevah coming back no mo' till MarseMarcy come too."
"You see he played his part well. There's the chink I promised you,"said Jack, tossing a gold coin down to the boy, who scrambled for it asthough some one was trying to get it away from him.
"But what has become of the two ship-keepers?" said Marcy. "They weretold to remain on board till we came."
"Law-zee, Marse Marcy," exclaimed Julius, with another laugh, "you jes'oughter see dem niggahs hump demselves when I swum off to de schoonerand cotch de bob-stay. 'Oh, dere's one of dem white things,' dey holler;but I ain't white and I knows it, and den dey run for de skiff and jumpin and go off to de sho' so quick you can't see 'em for de foam dey rizin de watah."
"Did you scare them away?" exclaimed Marcy.
"I reckon so, sar; kase dere ain't nobody but Julius been on de schooneror 'bout it sence dat time."
"Well, let's get to work," said Jack. "Julius, you stay below till Itell you to come up, do you hear? If I see so much as a lock of yourwool above the combings of the hatch, I'll chuck you over for thecatfish."
A laughing response from the black boy showed just how much he fearedthat the sailor would carry this threat into execution; but it kept himbelow, and that was what Jack wanted. As matters stood now, Julius couldaccount for his absence from the plantation by saying that he had gotangry and run away because Jack ordered him to stay ashore; but hecouldn't say that with any hope of being believed if any of the settlersalong the coast saw him on board the schooner.
If Jack Gray had been so disposed, he could have taken the _Fairy Belle_into Pamlico Sound without showing her to the Plymouth people at all,for a small stream, called Middle R
iver, and its tributaries, ranentirely around the city behind it, and out of sight of thefortifications that the Confederates had thrown up on the banks of theRoanoke. Starting from Pamlico River below Roanoke Island, a small boat,manned by those who were acquainted with the windings of the differentchannels, could come up through Middle River and Seven Mile Creek,passing within a few hundred yards of Captain Beardsley's house and Mrs.Gray's, and strike the Roanoke two miles above Plymouth. Please bearthis in mind, for it is possible that we may have to speak of twoexpeditions that made use of these rear waterways to avoid theConfederate batteries. But there was no danger to be apprehended fromthe Plymouth people. The danger would come when the schooner passedoutside and drew near to the blockading fleet; and that was the reasonJack had thought it best to disguise her.
The breeze being light and the channel crooked, it took the schooner anhour or more to work out of the creek under her jib, but when the rapidcurrent of the Roanoke took her in its grasp, and the fore and mainsails were run up, she sped along at a much livelier rate. As the _FairyBelle_ approached the town the roar of the morning gun reverberatedalong the river's wooded shores, and the Confederate colors were run upto the top of a tall flagstaff.
"Now comes something I don't at all like," said Jack. "We will run ourown rebel rag up to the peak, and when we come abreast of the town we'llsalute the colors on shore."
"How do you perform that ceremony anyhow?" asked Marcy.
"By lowering and hoisting the flag three times in quick succession,"replied Jack. "It takes two to do it as it ought to be done, but ofcourse you can't manage the halliards with only one hand. All I ask ofyou is to hold the wheel. I don't suppose those haymakers in the fortwill have the sense to answer the salute, but we don't care for that. Itmay save us the trouble of going ashore to listen to questions that wecan't answer with anything but lies."
The first gray-coated sentry they passed looked at them doubtfully, asthough he did not know whether it was best to halt them or not, butprobably the sight of the flag they carried settled the matter for him.At any rate he did not challenge them, and neither did any of the othersentinels they saw along the bank; but one of the numerous little groupswhich had assembled, as if by magic, to see them go by, hailed them withthe inquiry:
"Where do you uns think you are going?"
"We hope to see Newbern some day or other," was Jack's reply. "Now standby the wheel, Marcy, and I will see what I can do with the halliards."
The ceremony of saluting the Confederate flag was duly performed, but,as Jack had predicted, no notice was taken of the courtesy. The soldierslooked on in silence, and probably there was not one among them who knewwhy the _Fairy Belle's_ colors were hauled down and up again so manytimes; but when Jack made the halliards fast to the cleat and took hisbrother's place at the wheel, the same voice called out:
"Will you uns bring us some late papers when you come back?"
The sailor replied that he would think about it, and then he said toMarcy:
"You want to have your wits about you when you pass this place on yourway home. If they hail you and ask where your partner is, you can tellthem that I am in the navy. If they inquire where Julius was that theydidn't see him when we went down, he was below attending to his duties;and if they ask about the papers, you were so busy that you couldn't getthem."
The next place where Jack wanted to show his captured flag was inCroatan Sound. The Confederate force which had been mustered to defendthese waters, having been compelled to abandon, one after the other, allthe forts they had erected to defend the various inlets leading to theopen sea, were concentrating on Roanoke Island, which they werepreparing to hold at all risks. They were building forts, fitting outgunboats, and sinking obstructions in the channels. Everything was wellunder way when the boys went through, their captured banner serving as apassport here as it had done at Plymouth. They took the deepest interestin all they saw, little dreaming that the day would come when the bigguns, which now offered no objection to their progress, would pour a hotfire of shot and shell upon both of them. Sailor Jack would have beendelighted if some one in whom he had perfect confidence had assured himthat such would be the case, but Marcy would have been overwhelmed withastonishment.
"This island is already historic," said Jack, as the little schoonerdashed by the unfinished walls of Fort Bartow, and he waved his hat inresponse to a similar salute from one of the working party on shore,"and it'll not be many weeks before it will be more so."
"What has ever happened here to give this lonely island a place inhistory?" inquired Marcy.
"I am surprised at you," answered Jack. "Here you are, a North Carolinaboy born and bred, and you don't know the history of your own State.Well, I didn't know it, either, until I happened to pick up an oldmagazine, thousands of miles from home, and read something about it--notbecause I cared a snap for history, which is awful dry stuff to me, butbecause I had nothing else to do just then. Of course you know that manyof the Croatan Indians, who have gray eyes and speak the Englishlanguage of three hundred years ago, claim to be descendants of SirWalter Raleigh's lost colony, don't you? Well, that colony was plantedhere in 1585 on the shores of Shallow Bag Bay, which lies on the seawardside, and a little to the northeast of the fort we just passed. Theywere the forerunners of the English-speaking millions now on this sideof the big pond. Here, on the 18th of August, 1587, Virginia Dare, thefirst white American, was born. The county of which this island forms apart was named after her family. Now tell Julius to bring up somesupper, and while we are eating it we'll take a slant over toward themain shore. There may be some sailor men among those soldiers for all weknow, and, if they are watching our movements, we want to make thembelieve that we are holding a course for the lower end of the Sound, andthat we have no intention of going near any of the inlets."
Up to this time Julius had kept below out of sight; but his forcedinactivity did not wear very heavily upon him, for he had been asleepall the while. He was prompt to respond to Marcy's call, and took Jack'splace at the wheel while the two boys were eating the cold supper hebrought up for them. It was quite safe for him to stay on deck now, forit was almost dark, and besides it was not likely that he would be seenby any one on shore who knew him. When he had satisfied his appetiteJack hauled down the Confederate colors and asked his brother where heshould hide them.
"It looks to me like a dangerous piece of business for you to hide themanywhere," replied Marcy, who had been thinking the matter over. "Itlooks sneaking, too. We are all right and we know it. We are never goingto get through Crooked Inlet without meeting that steam launch oranother one like her, and if the officer in command shouldn't besatisfied with your story or with your papers either, and should take itinto his head to give the _Fairy Belle_ a thorough overhauling, thenwhat? If he found that flag stowed away in some secret place, he'd makeprisoners of us, sure pop."
"If I didn't think it would be of use to you when you come back I wouldtie a weight to it and chuck it overboard," said Jack. "On the whole Ithink we'd better not try to hide it. The honest way is the best whereYankees are concerned. I'll put it in the locker alongside our ownflag."
It was about twenty-five miles across the Sound to Crooked Inlet, andthe schooner covered this distance in four hours. Of course CaptainBeardsley's buoys had been lifted and carried away long before thistime, and the only safe way to take the vessel into open water was topull her through with the skiff which was towing astern. Although thatwould involve three or four hours of hard work, it was not a thing to bedreaded; but the thought of what they might meet before or after theygot through, almost made Marcy's hair stand on end.
The night being clear and starlight, Marcy had no trouble in pilotingthe _Fairy Belle_ into the mouth of the Inlet. Then the sails werehauled down, the skiff was pulled alongside, and a tow-line got out.
"Now, Julius," said Jack impressively, "stand by to turn over a newleaf. Quit lying and tell the honest truth."
"Now, Marse Jack," protested Julius
.
"I know what you want to say," interrupted the sailor, "but we have notime for nonsense. I don't care what sort of lies you tell those rebelsround home, but nothing but the truth will answer our purpose here.We've got to go aboard some ship--we can't get out of that; and whilethe captain is questioning Marcy and me, some other officer may bequestioning you. If your story doesn't agree with ours in everyparticular, all of us will find ourselves in trouble. Tell them who weare, where we came from, why we are here, and all about it."
"But, Marse Jack," said the darkey, who seemed to have forgottensomething until this moment, "I dunno if I want to go 'mong dem Yankees.I don't want to see no horns an' huffs."
"It's too late to think of that now," replied the sailor. "But I willtell you this for your encouragement: You won't see any horns and hoofsif you do just as you are told. But if you begin lying, you'll see andhear some things that will make your eyes bung out as big as my fist.Crawl over, Marcy, and I will hand you the boat-hook."
Marcy clambered into the skiff followed by Julius, Jack lingering behindlong enough to lash the rudder amidships. Then he also took his place inthe tender and picked up one of the oars, Julius took the other, Marcyknelt in the bow to feel for the channel with his boathook, and the workof towing the schooner through the Inlet was begun. There was not a buoyin sight, and when he removed them the officer whose business it was toguard that particular part of the coast must have thought he had donehis full duty, for the active little launch that Marcy so much dreadeddid not put in her appearance. They passed through the Inlet withoutrunning the _Fairy Belle_ aground or seeing anything alarming; and itwas not until the broad Atlantic opened before them that thelong-expected hail came.
"Not a thing in sight," said Jack, with some disappointment in histones. "I was in hopes we could get through with our business so thatyou could return to the Sound before daylight, but perhaps it is just aswell as it is. You want to keep away from those soldiers long enough tomake them believe that you have been to Newbern. Haul the skiffalongside, and we'll fill away for Hatteras."
"Jack, Jack!" exclaimed Marcy suddenly, "there comes something."
Looking in the direction indicated by his brother's finger, theexperienced sailor distinctly made out the white canvas of a nattylittle schooner that was holding in for the Inlet. It was the mostunwelcome sight he had seen for many a day.